Glazing gasket



Dec. 18, 1962 B. R. BORSKI GLAZING GASKET 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan.11, 1961 flew/7e; BO/JAI INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Dec. 18, 1962 B. R. 'BORSKI 339633517 GLAZING GL XSKET FiledJan. 11, .1961

2 Sheets-Sheet. 22

Ber/76w" Boar/w INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,068,617 GLAZING GASKET Bernes R. Borski,Houston, Tex., assignor to F. H. Maloney Company, Houston, Tex., acorporation of Texas Filed Jan. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 82,111 Claims. (Cl.50-120) This invention relates to wall panel construction, andparticularly it relates to gaskets used for sealingly retaining panelsused in building wall construction.

One form of building wall construction that is being used with somefrequency is one which requires the use of concrete wall panel frameswhich are precast in a mold and installed in the wall of the building.The frames are provided with means for retaining therein panels ofglass, if the frames are for windows, or of other materials, if anopaque wall is desired. Such means include the use of a combination of ametal member and a rubber gasket. One method suggested comprises moldingthe frame with an intergral inwardly extending annular metal insert, towhich glass panels, for example, may be attached, as by means of sealingstrips such as are described in US. Patent 2,189,138. As may be seen inthe above patent, sealing strips join coplanar sheets of material insealing relationship. The sealing strip is first placed on the insert,so that it extends all the way around the inside of the frame, and thewindow pane is then put into place.

A major problem with this procedure is the difficulty of obtaining apermanent seal between the annular metal insert and the cast frame, sothat the wall panel is impervious to wind and rain, since metals aresubject to corrosion. An aluminum insert has been found mostsatisfactory, but these are expensive, and the concrete causes rapidcorrosion of aluminum, so that these inserts do not provide a permanentstructure.

According to the present invention, the frame, whether of concrete or ofother material, is made with an annular inwardly directed groove. Aglazing gasket is sealingly engaged in the groove, and the glass orother wall panel is sealingly retained by the glazing gasket.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference is now made tothe drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 depicts a cast window frame having a glass pane retained by aglazing gasket;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the window and frame of FIGURE1, taken on line 22 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a further enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of FIGURE2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the glazing gasket used in the structureshown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE 3, showing amodification of the glazing gasket; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE 3, showing anothermodification of the glazing gasket.

The window unit 10 depicted in FIGURE 1 comprises a molded concreteframe 12, a glazing gasket 14, and a pane of glass 16. As shown inFIGURE 2, and more clearly in FIGURE 3, frame 12 is provided with aninwardly directed annular groove 13 into which glazing gasket 14 issealingly engaged.

Glazing gasket 14 is an elongated strip, usually made of natural orsynthetic rubber or other elastomeric material, which extends all theway around the inside perimeter of the frame 12, being sealingly engagedin the annular groove 18 throughout this inside perimeter.

As best seen in FIGURE 4, the glazing gasket has a body portion 19 towhich is attached a longitudinally extending tongue 20. A longitudinallyextending groove 22 is formed in the side of the body opposite thetongue side, the groove being formed by wing elements 24, 26. The bodyis provided with a frame-engaging face 28 on the iifice tongue side,this face preferably extending substantially perpendicular to thetongue, or at an acute angle relative thereto. Tongue 20 is providedwith ridges 30 which are preferably backwardly directed teeth or barbswhich are directed toward the body of the glazing gasket so as to allowthe tongue to be readily inserted into the groove 18 in the frame butresist removal of the tongue from the groove. The ridges 30 function assealing elements to provide a fluid-tight seal of the tongue 20 ingroove 18. It will be appreciated that the thickness of tongue 20 withthe ridges 30 in their free position, is greater than the width ofgroove 18. Additional sealing is provided by lips 31 extendinglongitudinally along the edges of tongue 20, which engage the bottom ofgroove 18.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, frameengaging face 28 isprovided with lips 32 along each edge and longitudinally extendingridges 3-4 intermediate the lips and the tongue. The lips 32 and ridges34 are deformed upon insertion of the tongue 20 in the frame so as toprovide sealing engagement of the face 28 therewith.

Wing elements 24 and 26 terminate at their edges most removed from theframe-engaging face in lips 38, 40, which form the entrance to groove22. One laterial side of the body is provided with a longitudinallyextending wedge recess 42 which is adapted to receive a wedge 44. Wedge44 forces lip 38 into sealing engagement with the panel 16, the lip 40similarly being held in sealing engagement with the other side of panel16.

It will be apparent that the structure of this invention is assembled byinserting the tongue 20 of the glaz ing gasket into groove 18 far enoughso that the lips 32 are in sealing engagement with the frame, followedby bending wing element 2 back and inserting the panel 16. The Wedge 44is then inserted into groove 42 to retain lips 33 and 40 in positivesealing engagement with panel 16. The ridges 30 serve to retain lips 32in sealing engagement with the frame.

Another embodiment of the invention, shown in FIG- URE 5, omits theridges 34 on frame-engaging face 23 and the lips 31 on tongue 20, sothat sealing between the frame and the glazing gasket is attained bymeans of the ridges 30 on tongue 20 and the lips 32 on frameengagingface 28.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 6, another form of tongue is used toretain the glazing gasket in sealing engagement with the frame. Tongue50 has a somewhat trapezoidal shape, the small side of the trapezoidbeing adjacent frame-engaging face 52, and is hollow. Thus the tongue 50may be compressed for insertion into a groove 54 in frame '56, andthereby achieve a sealing engagement. The groove shown in FIGURE 6 is adovetail groove, which will function to pull frame-engaging face 52 andits sealing lips 58 into a sealing engagement with the frame. It isevident that when a dovetail is used, groove 54 and tongue 50 areproportioned so that lips 58 are held tightly against the frame.

It will be evident that the structure of this invention provides simplemeans for supporting glass or other building panels in molded concreteor other frames with out the use of additional intermediate metalframing elements, and that means are provided for insuring that wind andwater do not leak around the panels. In a test of the structure of thisinvention, using panels approximately four feet Wide and eleven feethigh, a wind as high as miles per hour was used to blow water simulatingan average rainfall of 4.85 inches per hour against the structure ofthis invention. It was found that no water leaked around any of theglazing gaskets, and all glass panels remained firm in the frames.

Several embodiments of the invention have been shown and describedherein. Many other modifications, however, will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, therefore the invention is not limited to thespecific embodiments disclosed, but only as defined by the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. An elastorneric glazing gasket for mounting a wall panel in a rigidframe having an inwardly directed annular mounting groove therein,comprising an elongate body portion, a longitudinally extending tongueprotruding from one side of said body portion and adapted to be engagedin said mounting groove, a wall panel engageable groove form into theopposite side of said body portion, the bottom of said grooveterminating short of the plane of juncture of said tongue and said bodyportion, means on said gasket providing for sealing engagement thereofwith the mounting groove, a frame-engaging face on said body portionextending laterally outwardly a substantial distance on either side ofsaid tongue and terminating in a sealing lip extending toward the frameand deformable upon insertion of said tongue into said mounting grooveto provide sealing at the edges of said frame-engaging face, means onsaid tongue adapted to retain said tongue far enough in said groove toinsure maintenance of the deformation of said sealing lips, and meansfor urging the walls of the groove in the body portion into sealingengagement with the wall panel.

panel and the inner frame mounting groove, a pair of longitudinallyextending wing members on said body portion on the side of said bodyportion opposite the frame-engaging face forming a panel receivinggroove therebetween having a bottom formed by said body portion, saidwall panel being sealingly and supportingly received in said panelreceiving groove, whereby said body portion provides resilient sup.-port for said wall panel intermediate the edge of the wall face of theframe.

4. A structural assembly as defined by claim 3 wherein the means on thetongue for resisting disengagement comprise longitudinally extendingridges or teeth on said tongue which are directed toward said frameengaging face.

5. A structural assembly comprising an annular molded concrete frame, anannular inwardly directed dovetail mounting groove formed in the innersurface of said frame, an elongate elastomen'c glazing gasketcircumscribing the inner surface of said frame, a longitudinallyextending hollow dovetail shaped tongue extending from one side of saidgasket and engaged in said mounting groove, a frame-engaging face onsaid gasket extending laterally outwardly a substantial distance oneither side of i said tongue and terminating in a sealing lip extending2. An elastomeric glazing gasket as defined by claim 1 wherein the meanson said tongue adapted to retain tongue in said groove comprises a toengage a corresponding dovetail groove.

3. A structural assembly comprising an annular molded concrete frame, anelongate elastomeric glazing gasket circumscribing the inner face ofsaid frame and sealingly engaged therewith, and a wall panel sealinglyand supportingly held in said frame by said glazing gasket, wherein saidframe has an annular inwardly directed mounting groove extending aroundthe inner face thereof and said gasket has a body portion, aframe-engaging face on said body portion, a longitudinally extendingtongue protruding from said frame-engaging face and sealingly engaged insaid frame mounting groove, means on said frame-engaging faceresiliently and sealingly engaging the inner face of said frame, meanson said tongue resiliently and sealingly engaged in said frame mountinggroove and adapted to resist disengagement of said tongue from saiddovetail form adapted receiving groove,

toward the frame and deformable upon insertion of said tongue into saidmounting groove sufficiently to fully engage the dovetails to providesealing at the edges of said frame-engaging face, said dovetailengagement being such as to maintain such sealing, a longitudinallyextending panel-receiving groove formed in the side of said gasketopposite said tongue, a substantial unsupported body por- :tionintermediate said tongue and said groove, a wall panel having its edgesealingly supported in said paneland wedge means in said gasket forurging the walls of the panel-receiving groove into sealing engagementwith the wall panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No, 3 O68 6l7December 18 1962 Bernes Ra Borski It is hereby certified that errorappears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that thesaid Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column l line 20,, for "intergral" read integral column 2, line 25, for"laterial" read lateral column 3, line 13, for "form into" read formedin line 14,, before "groove" insert wallpanel engageable line 24 before"groove" insert mounting line 3O before "tongue" insert said same line30 before "groove" insert mounting column 4 line 32 before "groove"insert panel-receiving Signed and sealed this 9th day of July 1963,,SEAL) Xttest:

ERNEST w. SWIDER DAVID A Lttesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

